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Report: Michigan a leader in 'blue economy' jobs

In the past five years, Wayne State University, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University have received more than $299 million in research awards to conduct water-related research.

Those awards have been used to conduct research that helps to protect the environment, promote economic development and deal with invasive species, according to a report released today by the University Research Corridor, which is made up of the three universities.

Water research is a significant focus of the universities, the report found, as the funding is nearly the same as what they received for advanced automotive research from 2006 to 2011, when the URC received $303 million in research awards.

“We are fortunate to be surrounded by the greatest body of fresh water in the world with a fifth of the world’s freshwater supply at our fingertips,” Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson said in a statement. “The URC is working hard to make sure that water is an economic resource not only for today but for future generations of Michigan residents.”

The report, entitled “Innovating for the Blue Economy,” was conducted by the East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group and released today at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference.

It found that the three universities received 2,100 awards to conduct a wide range of research on water issues, and that they annually produce more than 3,400 graduates to work in various fields that involve water-related issues.

About 40 percent of those graduates are advanced degrees, according to the report.

“Michigan’s entire history and quality of life is tied to water, and the URC works hard to protect that important resource and find ways to advance the state’s economy through water-related technology and innovation,” said URC executive director Jeff Mason.

There are more than 718,000 jobs in the state in water-related industries, the report found, or one in five Michigan workers.

That puts Michigan as fourth in the nation for jobs connected to water. About 138,000 of those jobs are in core water products and services like wastewater treatment plants. The remainder of the jobs are in industries like agriculture and mining.

“It is an important economic driver in Michigan, and extends to Great Lakes shipping, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and fishing, and over 80 other industry subsectors where Michigan workers are employed today,” AEG founder and CEO Patrick Anderson said in a statement.

The report also found that the water research being conducted by the three universities is a strategic asset to the state as it “gives entrepreneurs, existing companies, and early stage investors access to cutting-edge research, thereby creating new markets and/or new companies.”

“The New Michigan strategy outlined by Business Leaders for Michigan calls for leveraging our natural resources in a safe sustainable way to grow good-paying jobs and our economy,” Doug Rothwell, president and CEO of the Business Leaders for Michigan, said in a statement. “The URC report measures in a very concrete way the major economic impact that water-related enterprises already have in Michigan and points the way toward its even larger influence in the future.”